HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake occurred at about 18:45 to 18:50 local time on 16 June 1819. It had an estimated magnitude ranging from 7.7 to 8.2 on the
moment magnitude scale The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mwg, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. was defined in a 1979 paper ...
and a maximum perceived intensity of XI (''Extreme'') on the
Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS) measures the effects of an earthquake at a given location. This is in contrast with the seismic magnitude usually reported for an earthquake. Magnitude scales measure the inherent force or ...
. It triggered a
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
and caused at least 1,543 deaths. The
earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
caused an area of subsidence that formed the Sindri Lake and a local zone of uplift to the north about long, wide and high that dammed the Koree / Kori / Puran / Nara river. This natural dam was known as the Allah Bund ("Dam of God").


Tectonic setting

The
Kutch District Kutch district (), officially spelled Kachchh is a district of Gujarat state in western India, with its headquarters (capital) at Bhuj. Covering an area of 45,674 km2, it is the largest district of India. The area of Kutch is larger than ...
of modern-day
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
lies on the
Indian plate The Indian plate (or India plate) is or was a minor tectonic plate straddling the equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, the Indian plate broke away from the other fragments of Gondwana an ...
, southeast of the plate boundary between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate, but the current tectonics is still governed by the effects of the continuing
continental collision In geology, continental collision is a phenomenon of plate tectonics that occurs at Convergent boundary, convergent boundaries. Continental collision is a variation on the fundamental process of subduction, whereby the subduction zone is destroy ...
along this boundary. During the break-up of
Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...
in the
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
period, this area was affected by rifting with a roughly west–east trend. During the collision with Eurasia the area has undergone shortening, involving both reactivation of the original rift faults and the development of new low-angle
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...
s. The related folding has formed a series of ranges, particularly in central Kutch. The
focal mechanism The focal mechanism of an earthquake describes the Fault (geology)#Slip.2C heave.2C throw, deformation in the Hypocenter, source region that generates the seismic waves. In the case of a Fault (geology), fault-related event, it refers to the ori ...
of most earthquakes is consistent with reverse faulting on reactivated rift faults. The
2001 Gujarat earthquake The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January at . The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch district in Gujarat, India. The earthquake had ...
was caused by movement on a previously unknown south-dipping fault, trending parallel to the inferred rift structures.


Earthquake

The earthquake lasted for two to three minutes. It was felt over an enormous area, from
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
to
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
in the east, as far north as
Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
and as far west as
Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...
. The main shock was followed by prolonged
aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...
activity, with major earthquakes continuing for at least 50 years, including one with estimated magnitude of more than 6.5 in 1846. Maximum displacement during the earthquake is estimated at , based on the height of the bund and the amount of subsidence to the south. Combined with a lateral extent of at least , this gives an estimated moment magnitude of 7.7±0.2. This matches well with magnitudes estimated using both the total felt area and the area of VIII intensity. Other estimates based on intensity measurements give magnitudes as high as 8.2. Modelling of the surface deformation indicates that the fault that slipped during the earthquake dipped to the north at between about 50°–67°. As faults that dip in excess of 50° are normally unfavourable for slip, it has been suggested that there was relatively high pore-fluid pressure developed at depth to allow this displacement to occur. There is evidence that the Indus river shifted westwards after this earthquake.


Allah Bund

The most obvious topographic effect of this earthquake was the formation of a ridge about high, extending for 80 km (possibly as much as ) that formed a natural dam across the Puram or Kori River. To distinguish it from the man-made dams that were common in the region, the uplifted area became known as the Allah Bund, or Dam of God. The mound produced had a markedly asymmetric geometry, with a shorter and steeper south-dipping margin, about 600 m wide and a dip of 0.65°, and a broader north-dipping margin over 5 km wide with a dip of only about 0.05°.


Sindri Lake

Sindri Lake, with a surface area of more than , was formed due to subsidence of up to south of the Allah Bund. Initially, the lake was cut off from the river (damming further upstream had stopped the flow) and was filled with seawater. On the western margin of the lake a small delta built out from the eastern part of the larger
Indus Delta The Indus River Delta forms where the Indus River flows into the Arabian Sea, mostly in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan with a small portion in the Kutch Region of India. The delta covers an area of about , and is approximately across ...
. After 1826 the river broke through the artificial dam and eventually broke through the bund itself, causing the lake to become freshwater again.


Later earthquakes

The
1956 Anjar earthquake The 1956 Anjar earthquake occurred at 15:32 UTC on 21 July, causing maximum damage in town of Anjar in Kutch, Gujarat, India. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.1 on the surface-wave magnitude scale and a maximum perceived intensity of IX ...
was due to
reverse fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic f ...
ing, similar in type to that which is thought to have caused the 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake. Changes in stress caused by
coulomb stress transfer Coulomb stress transfer is a Seismology, seismic-related geology, geological process of Stress (mechanics), stress changes to surrounding material caused by local discrete deformation events. Using mapped displacements of the Earth's surface during ...
due to the 1819 earthquake may have been sufficient to trigger the
2001 Bhuj earthquake The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January at . The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch district in Gujarat, India. The earthquake had ...
and other historic earthquakes that occurred in the region during the intervening period.


Tsunami

There was a local tsunami that flooded the area known as the Great Rann immediately after the earthquake. The fort at Sindri was destroyed by the earthquake and then partly submerged by the tsunami, "forcing survivors to climb to the top of the ruins."


Damage

The towns of Kothara, Mothala,
Naliya Naliya is a town, which is also the taluka headquarters of Abdasa Taluka of Kutch District (kachchh), Gujarat, India. It is located on the western end of Kutch 19 km by road from ancient port of Jakhau. History Naliya was a prosperous tr ...
and Vinzan suffered particularly heavy damage. Anjar,
Bhuj Bhuj () is a city and the headquarters of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Etymology According to legend, Kutch (Kachchh) was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to King B ...
, Lakhpat,
Mandvi Mandvi is a beach town with municipality in the Kutch district, Kachchh district (Kutch) in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao (king) of the Cutch ...
and Tera were also severely affected. At least 1,543 people were killed in the larger towns; the number of casualties in smaller towns and villages is unknown. There was some degree of damage to buildings over most of
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
, including the destruction of the "shaking minarets" of the
Jama Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.See: * * * * ...
in
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
. At
Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...
in
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
, "at least 500 guests were smothered at a wedding feast".


See also

*
List of earthquakes in India The Indian subcontinent has a history of earthquakes. The reason for the intensity and high frequency of earthquakes is the Indian plate driving into Asia at a rate of approximately 47 mm/year. The following is a list of major earthquakes whic ...
*
List of historical earthquakes Historical earthquakes is a list of significant earthquakes known to have occurred prior to the early 20th century. As the events listed here occurred before routine instrumental recordings, they rely mainly on the analysis of written sources, ...
*
List of tsunamis This article lists notable tsunamis, which are sorted by the date and location that they occurred. Because of seismic and volcanic activity associated with tectonic plate boundaries along the Pacific Ring of Fire, tsunamis occur most frequentl ...


References

{{Earthquakes in India 1819 Rann 1819 earthquakes Kutch district 19th century in Gujarat 1819 in India History of Kutch 1819 Rann 19th-century tsunamis June 1819 1810s disasters in Asia 19th-century disasters in India